Belfast City Hall

One of Belfast's most iconic buildings, Belfast City Hall first opened its doors in August 1906 and is Belfast's civic building. It's located in Donegall Square, in the heart of Belfast city centre. Take a free public tour and discover its fascinating history.

Description

Free public tours of Belfast City Hall are available Monday to Sunday. Led by an experienced guide, they last around one hour and uncover the history of Belfast City Hall, while exploring some of its finest features.You can also visit the Titanic Memorial Garden and a number of monuments and memorials.

Look out for the Belfast City Hall illuminations as they light up the building in a variety of colours and combinations at night, showing off the building's beautiful architectural features.

Free Public tours

Belfast City Hall offers free public tours every day. Led by an experienced guide, tours last around an hour and include the history of Belfast City Hall and its finest features. The tours are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Visitors must register 10-15 minutes before the tour is due to depart at visitor exhibition and guided tours reception. Although public tours of City Hall are free of charge, donations are kindly accepted for the development of the tour service. Donation boxes can be found at the main City Hall reception desk.

Public tour times

Monday to Friday; 11am, 2pm and 3pm

Saturday and Sunday; 12 noon, 2pm and 3pm

The tours on bank holidays and public holidays are subject to change.

Private Group tours

Private tours are offered to commercial tour operators at a charge. For information about charges, availability and to make a booking, please email or phone a member of the City Hall team. All tours for commercial tour operators must be booked in advance and outside of public tour times.

Visitor Exhibition

The City Hall’s east wing on the ground floor hosts a visitor exhibition, which can be accessed through its own dedicated reception area. The exhibition offers a journey from the city’s past to present, showing the vibrancy and diversity of Belfast City Hall across six themed zones.

Stretching over 16 separate rooms, and presented within the original architecture of City Hall, you can explore the various rooms, and pause for thought in the reflection space or take time out for lunch or refreshments in our refurbished coffee shop, The Bobbin.

The exhibition is free for individuals (there’s a charge for commercial groups) but for £3.50 you can hire headphones and listen to an audio tour, available in a range of languages. You can also buy a commemorative booklet for just £1.

You can book in person at the new visitor exhibition and reception desk in City Hall, call us on 028 9027 0456 or email visitcityhall@belfastcity.gov.uk

Grounds of City Hall and Titanic Memorial Garden

The perfectly manicured lawns surrounding City Hall contain a wealth of memorials to the history, people and events associated with the City. Among the most poignant are the Cenotaph built in memory of all those who died in the First World War and the Titanic Memorial Gardens which name all 1,512 victims of the disaster. The Titanic Memorial Garden is situated on the east side of Belfast City Hall.

The garden was built around the existing Titanic monument which was designed by Sir Thomas Brock. The garden is set on two levels with the upper level containing a nine metre long plinth supporting 15 bronze plaques which list, in alphabetical order, the names of 1,512 people who perished on RMS Titanic. This is the first time that the names of everyone who perished have been recorded on one monument. 'The Belfast List', as it is now known, is a key feature of the memorial garden.

Also worth seeing are the grand front gates of City Hall which bear the City Coat of Arms and are accompanied by two fine lamps which are adorned with seahorses and cherubs who each hold items representing the industrial and manufacturing heritage of the city.

Visitor App

A visitor app is free to download from the Apple App Store and the Google Play store. It includes a rich and engaging audio tour that guides each visitor through the visitor exhibition and all of its displays. The app will also help you self-guide around the grounds of City Hall or its famous collection of stained glass windows. Search ‘Belfast City Hall’ on the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.